Hillbilly Hare
Hillbilly Hare is a 1950 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Robert McKimson, with a story by Tedd Pierce and musical direction by Carl Stalling. Bugs as usual is voiced by Mel Blanc, as is Curt Martin; an uncredited Stan Freberg and John T. Smith voice Punkin'head Martin; Smith also voices the square dance caller before Bugs unplugs the machine. This is only 1 of 3 WB cartoons released in 1950 not to bear the "all-green" ring scheme, the others being "Dog Collared" and "Two's a Crowd". Plot Bugs Bunny is vacationing in the Ozarks and stumbles into the territory of two hillbilly brothers, Curt and Punkin'head Martin. The brothers figure Bugs as being a member of the clan they are feuding with and make several attempts to shoot him. Bugs foils them each time. Curt and Punkin'head are determined to get revenge on Bugs for their humiliation. Bugs easily outsmarts them and eventually, dressed as an attractive hillbilly girl, tricks them into doing a square dance. The dance tune starts as a straightforward version of "Skip to My Lou" played and called by the jukebox band. Shortly into it, Bugs deliberately unplugs the jukebox, removes the dress and takes over fiddling and square dance calling, still to the melody and rhythm of the song but manipulating the Martins through a series of slapstick comedy gags. Bugs proceeds to assign the Martins increasingly bizarre and violent directives, which the brothers unquestioningly follow with hilarious results. Finally, with the Martins having promenaded off a cliff, Bugs finishes the dance by saying, "And that is all!" before the cartoon ends. Gallery Songs *''Bugs Bunny's Square Dance'' - Bugs Bunny, Sour Belly Trio Trivia *In this cartoon, after having several of their hunting attempts foiled, hillbilly brothers Curt and Punkin'head Martin are determined to get revenge on Bugs Bunny for their humiliation. But Bugs easily outsmarts them and eventually leads them into a violent square dance involving repeated slapstick comedy gags. *Like Pete Puma, the hillbillies have gone on to enter pop culture among animation fans. They have made occasional cameos in the DC Looney Tunes comic book series, and they also make a brief cameo along with Bugs in the Histeria! episode "Great Heroes of France". They also make a brief cameo in Space Jam (they are briefly seen with the other Looney Tunes characters watching the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Monstars). Censorship *This cartoon saw major editing when aired on ABC due to violent content. The following scenes were edited: **The scene where Bugs mistakes Hillbilly #1's gun for a camera and has his carrot shot full of holes was cut. **The scene where Hillbilly #1 unties his rifle barrel, gets blasted in the face, was cut. **The scene where Bugs meets up with Hillbilly #2, and Bugs reverses the gun barrel so that the second hillbilly is blown up was cut. **The aftermath of the explosion in the dynamite shack sequence where Hillbilly #1 comes out with Bugs' lit lighter and says, "I think y'all are usin' too strong a fluid!" was also cut.http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-h.aspx **The line during the square-dance ending that goes: Grab a fence post/Hold it tight/Whomp yer partner/Wit' all yer might/Hit 'im in the shin/Hit 'im in the head/Hit 'im again/The critter ain't dead/Whomp 'im low and whomp 'im high/Stick yer finger in his eye/Pretty l'il rhythm/Pretty l'il sound/Bang yer head against the ground (and the ensuing comic violence that follows) was also cut. Availability *DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc One References External Links *Hillbilly Hare at SuperCartoons.net *Hillbilly Hare at B99.TV Category:Merrie Melodies shorts Category:Merrie Melodies Category:Bugs Bunny Category:Bugs Bunny shorts Category:Directed by Robert McKimson Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Shorts Category:Animated shorts Category:Films Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:1950 films Category:1950 shorts Category:Vitaphone short films Category:1950s shorts Category:1950 Category:1950s Category:1950s films Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson Category:Story by Tedd Pierce Category:Written by Tedd Pierce Category:Cartoons written by Tedd Pierce Category:Animated by Rod Scribner Category:Animation by Rod Scribner Category:Cartoons animated by Rod Scribner Category:Animated by Phil DeLara Category:Animation by Phil DeLara Category:Cartoons animated by Phil DeLara Category:Animated by John Carey Category:Animation by John Carey Category:Cartoons animated by John Carey Category:Animated by Emery Hawkins Category:Animation by Emery Hawkins Category:Cartoons animated by Emery Hawkins Category:Animated by Charles McKimson Category:Animation by Charles McKimson Category:Cartoons animated by Charles McKimson Category:Layouts by Cornett Wood Category:Cartoon layouts by Cornett Wood Category:Backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas Category:Film Editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects by Treg Brown Category:Voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Voice Characterizations by Mel Blanc Category:Voices by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with voices by Mel Blanc Category:Voiced by Stan Freberg Category:Voices by Stan Freberg Category:Voice Characterizations by Stan Freberg Category:Cartoons with voices by Stan Freberg Category:Voiced by by John T. Smith Category:Voices by John T. Smith Category:Voice Characterizations by John T. Smith Category:Cartoons with voices by John T. Smith Category:Music by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl Stalling Category:Cartoons with music by Carl Stalling Category:Warner Bros. shorts